FG Orders MDAs: Full Compliance in Pension Verification Drive
Faced with worryingly low turnout in a nationwide exercise critical to settling long-standing retirement obligations, the Federal Government has issued a firm directive to Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure full compliance with an ongoing pension verification and enrolment programme for civil servants with accrued pension rights.
The National Pension Commission, PenCom, confirmed that the one-time online exercise targets all active employees of treasury-funded MDAs employed before June 30, 2004 — workers who transitioned from the old Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS, to the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, and are entitled to retirement benefits earned under the previous arrangement.
The exercise, which commenced February 2, 2026, runs until July 31, 2026, and is structured in two phases. The first phase, which closed March 31, 2026, covered employees retiring between January 2027 and December 2029. The current second phase, running April 1 to July 31, 2026, captures those retiring from January 2030 onwards.
Under the Pension Reform Act, 2014, these transitioning employees are legally entitled to accrued pension rights representing benefits earned before the CPS was introduced. To meet these obligations, the government established the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund, domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Concerned by sluggish participation, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, issued a directive mandating all MDAs to mobilise eligible staff immediately, stressing that the exercise is critical for determining the government’s pension liabilities and making adequate budgetary provisions.
PenCom noted that the process has been significantly upgraded through the newly deployed Contributions and Bond Redemption Application, COBRA — a digital platform enabling real-time data capture, biometric verification, and cross-checking of employment records, replacing a previously manual system notorious for delays and incomplete records.
MDAs are required to upload details of eligible employees onto the COBRA platform, while affected workers must visit their respective Pension Fund Administrators with relevant documents to complete enrolment. Pension Desk Officers within each agency are tasked with coordinating the process.
Officials have warned that failure to participate could complicate the computation of accrued pension rights and trigger delays in benefit payments at retirement — a prospect that raises serious hardship concerns for affected civil servants.
As the July 31 deadline approaches, Permanent Secretaries and agency heads have been urged to intensify internal awareness campaigns and ensure no eligible worker is left out.